Hesitate Part 6
by honkytonk-babe3
Summary: Sukari just got beat by Josh; someone saves her; and a little suspense... What will happen next? Rated for language and some sexual content.


**What's up my friends? Sorry for the long wait, but when you have issues with your computer, you have no choice. So here is part six! Please enjoy!**

Mercy

Sukari and Josh both looked above them to see a dark figure hovering on a rooftop over them. Sukari was relieved and Josh wasn't pleased to see this person. Even in the dark Sukari could see who it was. The figure wielded a boe-staff and wore a purple mask over navy blue eyes.

"Ya one of dose freaks dat I keep hearin' 'bout, ain't ya?" Josh sneered when the figure jumped down from the building to reveal himself.

Donatello glared in response. Josh let go of Sukari and stood to face the purple-clad turtle.

"Now then," Donny started, "option A: you can let the girl come with me and we can go our separate ways, or option B: you can attempt to fight me and I'll just kick your ass and take her anyway. It's your choice."

Josh thought for a moment and smirked.

"I think I'm gonna go with option C," he pulled out a hand gun and pointed it strait at Donny's head; "I'll kill you and 'take' the girl myself." He cocked the gun and Donny pulled out his weapon.

"NOOO!" Sukari reacted upon instinct and jumped on Josh's back. She held him in a headlock and with the other hand, she was trying to take his gun away. Josh pushed her off of him and struck her across the head with the gun. She yelped and fell, holding the gash on her head. While she was on the ground, Josh continued to beat her down. Donny saw this and pounced. He jumped and kicked Josh in the back. He swung his staff at Josh and hit him in the head. Josh grunted and pointed the gun at Donny once more but it was knocked out of his hands. Donny delivered the final blow and hit Josh on the side of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Donny put his weapon away and walked over to Sukari. She was lying partly on her side and partly on her back. She had bruises on her arms and face and blood was running from her head like an ongoing river. Donny crouched down and placed his hand softly on her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open gently.

"Sukari?" he called quietly. She moaned in reply. "Sukari, would you like me to take you home?"

"N-no," she answered so that Donny could just barely hear. She had received a kick in the throat and her voice was scratchy and weak. "Anywhere b-but that… p-prison."

"Alright," Donny said in slight confusion, "can I take you to my place?" She gave him a small but noticeable nod. "Alright, do you mind if I touch you?" She shook her head as best as she could. "Okay." He bent down lower and carefully lifted her bridal style. She managed to curl up so she was comfortable. She put her head between his jaw and his shoulder and nuzzled his neck. He chuckled lightly.

"D-Donny?" she said lightly.

"Yes, Sukari?"

"Thank you, Donny," she whispered as more tears went down her cheeks. Donny reacted on brotherly instinct and held her tighter.

"Shhh, it's okay," he cooed softly, "it's alright. You're safe now."

"Donny?"

"Yes?"

"Do-do you think… that I'm worthless?" She did her best to look him in the eyes. He looked down at her with disbelief.

"Why do you ask?"

"J-Josh told me that. He tells me th-that all the t-time," she said. Her voice was beginning to clear up a bit.

"Josh has no right to do that to you. He has no right to even touch you, with orders or not. You are not worthless and you don't deserve to be labeled as such."

Sukari almost couldn't believe her ears. Donny was the first person to ever say something like that to her. Donny stood and started walking.

"Th-thank… you… D-Donny," she said as she suddenly got the heavy feeling on her eyelids. For some reason, sleep sounded amazing at that moment. She suddenly felt a pinch on her leg and her eyes opened again.

"I'm sorry, Sukari," Donny said, "but I need you to stay awake for me."

"But… I … need to… sleep," Sukari said and she closed her eyes again.

"Sukari, Raph's at home," Donny said. "Stay awake so you can see Raph." Sukari's eyes came open again and Donny could see her cheeks turn slightly pink. He smiled and chuckled a little. Nothing ever got past Donny. He could see clearly in her eyes that she held feelings for his brother. He was also very aware of the fact that Raphael held feelings for Sukari.

About twenty minutes later, Donny got to an old warehouse that looked like it had been abandoned for years. He walked in and over to the elevator. He punched in a code and the doors opened. He walked in and pressed a button on the wall. In about five seconds they were in the turtles' lair and Sukari felt strangely more at home than anything. The only noises that were heard by the two were grunts of frustration and chains rattling and objects making forceful contact with another. Donny walked over to a large room and pried the door open with his foot since he was still holding Sukari. When the door was fully opened, Sukari could see Raphael in his turtle form, punching and kicking a punching bag without mercy. She noticed the intense anger in his eyes.

"Raph?" Donny said.

"I'm busy, Don," Raph said.

"We've got a bit of a situation."

"What?" he snapped and whipped his head to face his little brother. When he saw what the situation was he immediately ran over to Donny. He held out his arms and Donny handed Sukari over to him. Raph dropped to his knees with Sukari in his arms and held her tightly. "What happened, Sukari?" he asked in a scratchy whisper.

"J-Josh… attacked m-me. It h-hurts, Raphael," she started to cry again.

"Shhh. I'm here. You're safe with me," Raph cooed in her ear. "I'm so sorry, Sukari. I shouldn't have let ya go with him."

"Raph," Donny called from his lab. Raph hadn't even noticed he had left, "could you bring her in here, please?" Raph picked her up and walked over to Donny's lab. The way he held her was different from the way Donny had held her. It was slightly rough and territorially protective while Donny had been gentle and strangely cautious as if she would shatter into a million pieces if he squeezed too hard. Raph paused at the door until Donny nodded his head in the direction of a bed. Raph walked over to the bed and placed Sukari down. When he tried to walk away, he felt a tug on his wrist and turned to see Sukari looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Please," she said, "don't l-leave me." Raph stood in the spot staring down at her in disbelief. He felt insignificant under her terrified and confused stare. Nevertheless, he grabbed a stool and sat next to her, holding her small hand in his as gently as he could.

"I'll be right here," he said so only she could hear him.

"What on earth is going on in here?" Sukari and Raph looked to the doorway to see a large mutant rat dressed in a kimono and holding a walking stick. His gray eyes were filled with concern when he saw Raphael holding the hand of an injured young girl. Donatello was too busy looking for something to even acknowledge his father. "Raphael, who is this young lady?" he asked.

"M-my name is Sukari, s-sir," Sukari told him with caution. She didn't know why, but this person seemed intimidating to her.

"Master Splinter," Raphael said, "let me explain. Sukari is a friend from school who's been havin' a really tough week. From what I hear, she just got jumped and Don brought her back here so he could help her out. I know dat we're not supposed ta bring people down here but-,"

"Raphael," Splinter said, raising his hand into the air, "I understand." He walked over to Sukari and gazed down on her, concern still in his eyes. He kept having the feeling that he knew her from somewhere.

"Sukari," Donny said as he walked into the room with a stitching set in on hand and a strange liquid in the other, "I need you to take off your ring so I can see if there is any damage inflicted on your true form, please."

Raphael put his hand over hers and slipped the ring off of her finger. When the change was complete, Splinter gasped.

_(Flashback)_

_Splinter stood in the glass tank that he had been forced into and watched his sons fighting Agent Bishop. The tank was slowly filling with an odd green liquid and it was getting higher. Splinter saw something in his peripheral vision and turned his head to the left. In the shadows, he could see a dark figure and watched as it crept into the light._

_The figure was a young girl about his sons' age. Her skin was green and she resembled a mutant lizard with her tail and webbed hands and feet. Her eyes were brown with no pupils and her hair was brown and hung past her thighs. She stepped towards him cautiously, eyeing him with fear. She looked towards Bishop and was thankful that he was preoccupied._

"_You don't look like you deserve this," she said to Splinter kindly. "Your sons would be devastated if they failed to save you. By the looks of it so far, they might. I can save them the trouble." She looked upon the panel of buttons and found the cancellation button and pressed it._

_Bishop saw her do this after he had knocked down one of the turtles. He grabbed a pipe and walked towards the girl with a menacing look in his eyes. Splinter tried to call out to the child but he had been gagged. Bishop raised the pipe and brought it down on the child's head. With a startled cry she fell, holding her now bleeding head. Bishop grabbed her hair and dragged her to a door, opened it, and threw the screaming child in the room. Splinter could only watch as this abuse to the child who had just saved his life take place._

_(End of Flashback)_

"You!" Splinter cried, startling Sukari. "You were the little girl who saved my life two years ago!" Sukari nodded her head once.

"I remember that night," she grimaced. "Bishop punished me severely for that."

"Is Agent Bishop your father?"

"No, maybe, I don't really know. He doesn't tell me anything. He gets mad when I talk about my past." The room was awkwardly silent for a moment.

"What happened?" Splinter finally asked.

"She was attacked, master," Donny said. "There's this boy from school who has a history of harassing her. He was walking her home, but when I got there, he was straddling her in an alley, screaming at her and hitting her."

Raphael's hand was getting tighter on Sukari's but he didn't notice. He was too pissed off to notice. How dare Josh do this to her!

"When I intervened," Don continued, "he pulled a gun on me. Sukari tried to take it out of his hands, but he flung her off of him and beat her until I was able to come between them."

Raph's hand got even tighter and Sukari winced.

"Her injuries aren't severe, though," Donny said, gazing at a few scans on a screen, "which is strange. I was almost sure that she had a concussion from that gash on her head. Josh nearly cracked her skull when he hit her with the gun."

"He what?!" Raphael shouted, jumping up, but one squeeze on his hand from Sukari got him to sit back down. Donny reached above his computers to a cabinet that held bottles of various sizes. He grabbed one that held an oddly colored liquid and Sukari saw Raphael's face turn-if possible-a darker green when he watched Donny pour some of the liquid into a spoon. Donny put the bottle down and walked towards Sukari.

"Sukari," he said, "I need you to drink this. Don't ask me what it is, just drink it fast and it won't be too bad." He held the spoon out to Sukari close enough for her to smell it. She gagged and sneezed. It was awful! She decided that since Donny wasn't going to walk away if she didn't drink it, she did. Needless to say, it tasted horrible. She coughed as it burned her throat. "Alright," Donny said after he was done chuckling at Sukari's bitter-beer face. He held up a thread and a needle, "I need you to hold still while I do this." Sukari shook her head.

"I doubt that will be necessary, Donatello," she said. "I'll heal by the time you're done."

"What do you mean?" Donny asked.

"The reason I don't have a concussion is because I naturally heal faster than a normal being. The stitches won't be necessary. Watch." She raised her hand to her head and began the fast process. When she took her hand away, all that was left was a scar. Donny stared, Splinter gasped, and Raph smirked.

Suddenly they all heard a door closing loudly and two voices.

"Guys?" called a deeper voice that Sukari knew was Leonardo's. Two terrapin figures appeared at the door and immediately stared at Sukari. Michelangelo walked over to her side.

"Dudette, what happened?"

"Josh fuckin' Mason," Raph said through gritted teeth. He still hadn't let go of Sukari's hand and his grip was getting tighter. Sukari couldn't help but wince. Raphael's knuckles had turned from emerald green to nearly white. When Sukari heard something pop she flinched.

"Raphael!" she gasped. She didn't mean to yell, but it got his and everyone else's attention. "Forgive me, but could you please try not to fracture my hand?" Raph looked down at his hand and saw what he was doing and immediately let go. Sukari was disappointed that he had let go, but relieved that blood was flowing back into her hand.

"I'm sorry, Sukari," Raph said, ashamed. Sukari sat up.

"What time is it?" she asked no one in particular.

"It's nine-thirty," Leonardo said. Sukari hadn't noticed that he was there. "Do you need to go home?"

"I think I may have to," Sukari replied, voice shaking. "My master is going to be so pissed." She placed her forehead in her palm with her elbow on her knee.

"No," Raph said.

"Raph," Leo warned.

"No, Leo," Raph said again, facing his oldest brother, "I've already witnessed what goes on in dis city especially afta dark more times den I wanna count. Sukari's already been a victim of it and I'm not gonna let her get hurt again. I've already almost let her down and I'm not gonna risk that again."

"Raph, you're gonna have to," Leo said. "She needs to go home."

"Raphael," Sukari said, "Leonardo's right. The longer I stay out, the worse my punishment will be. I'm more afraid of Bishop than I am of a few street punks." She stood, stumbling slightly. Raph took her arm and guided her to the door. Leo moved so the two could pass. Raph led her to the couch and sat her down.

"I'll be right back," he said to her. He walked away and disappeared into a room. From Donny's lab, Sukari could hear the others talking. She didn't hear what they were saying though. After a few minutes, she began to get antsy. She got up and walked towards the room that Raphael had gone in. She could hear him muttering to himself through the door before she knocked on it. "Come in," Raph called through the door. Sukari opened it and saw him rummaging through some shirts that were in a pile on his bed. He was shirtless and Sukari blushed. She closed the door behind her and Raph stood. "I told you I was gonna be right back," he said. Sukari stayed next to the door and refused to look at him.

"Even with people talking it can get too quiet," Sukari said. Raph walked towards her a little with a black shirt in his hand. "Though I've grown used to the silence I don't like it. It scares me."

"I hear dat," Raph sighed. He looked at her, giving her a once-over. "Great night, huh?"

"I've had worse," Sukari said, making Raph step closer.

"I think it's about time ya told me ya story, Sukari," he said, staring at her with his amber orbs. Sukari chuckled.

"That would take days, Raphael," she said.

"You don't seem in a hurry ta get home," Raph retorted, stepping even closer. He was nearly in arms length of her and she was pressing herself against the door.

"That hell hole isn't my home."

Raphael took one long stride and was standing an inch or three away from Sukari. She looked up and stared at him as he bent down, put his arm on the wood above her, and perched himself so he was sort of pinning Sukari to the door. She didn't fight it, though. He was so warm, he smelled like heaven, his eyes were so penetrating. All he'd have to do was bend down and… No! 'What am I thinking?! Stop it Sukari. Men only want the big S and you know it. You know what life is already like with Josh in the picture' 'Raphael would never do that to you. He's sweet and kind and has already protected you.' 'Josh was sweet and nice at first too. Look where that ended up.'

"Tell me why you don't fight back," Raph said, interrupting her internal argument. "Why do you let Josh hurt you?"

"It is not my decision what Josh will do. I cannot control the things he says and does, therefore I take it without question. Sure I'll beg him to stop, scratch him, but he won't stop. He never lets up when he gets mad or drunk."

"But you shouldn't come into the equation when he gets drunk. Don't ya know ta stay out of da way?"

"He finds me. If I run, he'll follow. If I hide, he'll track me down. It's pointless to fight when you aren't strong enough. It's pointless to speak when no one wants to hear you. So why bother?" Raph bent down and raised her face.

"I know that you don't really believe dat, Sukari," he whispered. "You are strong."

"How? Do I look like the strong, busty, beautiful brunette you see in movies? Do I have that voice or seductive stare? No. The best description I can make of myself is 'walking target'."

"Stop it, Sukari," Raph suddenly said with anger and frustration in his voice. "Just 'cause ya don't look the part doesn't mean ya ain't strong. Talkin' 'bout yourself like dat just makes ya all da more vulnerable." He raised her face higher. This was all too familiar to Sukari, but so different. "I think ya da strongest girl I've ever seen."

Raphael didn't smell like tobacco and whiskey. Raphael didn't have sandpaper skin. Raphael didn't look at her with that gaze of lust. He didn't force and/or rush anything. He bent lower, slowly, until his lips were so close to her's they felt like magnets.

"Don't let him or anyone make you feel inferior, Sukari; 'cause you got one person here who will not abandon you," Raphael whispered before he leaned forward more. Sukari was so ready. So prepared to give her first real kiss and take one herself. Raphael was so warm and beautiful and loving and…

"Raph!" someone shouted suddenly. Raph sighed. They were so close! He pushed himself away from the door and Sukari with his head down and his other hand on his hip. His black hair hid his pissed off glow in his amber-honey eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, Sukari." He turned his back on her and put his shirt on. Sukari stayed by the door, confused. She was so ready. Was the interruption a sign? Saying, 'You're engaged. You don't just go kissing other men, idiot.'

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Raphael," Sukari said. "I should know better."

"Me too," Raph sighed. He walked back to the door as Sukari stepped out of the way. He let her through first and followed her out to the lair to see Leo and the others waiting.

"What were you two doing?" asked Leo with his arms crossed.

"We were just talking, Leonardo," Sukari replied, looking down.

'_Just gonna stand there and watch me burn; that's alright because I like the way it hurts,'_ rang through the lair at that time. Sukari reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. As she looked at the caller ID, her face paled. She looked at the guys and put a finger to her lips. She answered it.

"Hello?" she said, trying to keep her voice strait. She suddenly flinched and took the phone from her ear. Coming from the phone, everyone could hear a male voice that sounded like Bishop's shouting at the top of his lungs. Sukari put the phone back to her ear. "Sir, I swear, I was on my way back, but… no, I… where am I? Um… no, I'm not with any of the girls. I'm with a few other friends… yes, I do have other friends, sir… now?" she sighed, "alright, I'm on my way back now," there was a brief pause and her eyes filled with even more fear, "yes, sir, I-I understand. I'll be home in a little while. B-bye." She put her phone back in her pocket and sighed.

"Sukari?" Raph asked. "Is everything alright?"

"I-I thought I could avoid it, but I guess that chance is gone."

"Avoid what?" Donny asked.

"Another weekend locked in my cell," she answered grimly. "I need to go now. Thank you all so much." She walked towards the coat rack and grabbed her backpack. She slipped her ring back on and headed for the door.

"Wait, I'm comin' with ya," Raph said. Sukari spun around and stopped him with her hand on his chest.

"No, Raphael," she said sincerely.

"Why not?"

"Bishop already thinks that yesterday was your fault. If he sees you, especially now, he will not hesitate to hurt you or chase you away by gunpoint. Please stay here." She took her hand from his chest and turned back around. She walked through the door and closed it silently.

Raphael turned to his older brother and walked towards him. He stood by his side for a few seconds and spoke his request; since Leo had been planning to follow her.

"Just make sure she doesn't get hurt, bro."


End file.
